Despite the looming threat of furloughs for the airline industry set to begin at the end of this week, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said Sunday that he is still hopeful Congress will reach an agreement on a new round of coronavirus stimulus that would provide aid to the nation's air carriers.

"There's enormous bipartisan support for it. We have Republicans, Democrats, the administration all saying -- knowing that this is the right program, that it makes sense, that indeed it should be extended because airline employees provide critical infrastructure," Parker told CBS' Face the Nation. "We have everyone putting us in every bill they have, we just need the bills to be laws. We need laws, not bills. That's what we're going to do and I'm actually confident we can get it done."

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Parker's high hopes come as Congress has been at an impasse for over a month on additional stimulus, leading many airlines to seek out other alternatives to prepare for the worst as the $25 billion bailout from the federal government is set to expire on Oct 1, which is when airlines can begin to furlough employees.

American announced in a filing Friday that it has secured $5.5 billion in additional funding allotted under the CARES Act as it prepares to weather the pandemic without more stimulus, following a similar move by United. Meanwhile, competitor Delta Airlines said it would be turning down the CARES Act loan and mortgaging its frequent flier program, SkyMiles.